Valve



e. F. ASKER Dec. 24, '19s? VALVE Filed Jan. 26, 1955 ATTORNEY United States Patent 2,817,360 VALVE Washington, D. C assignor to Inc., Falls Church, Va., a corpo- Gunnar C. F. Asker, Desomatic Products, ration of Delaware This invention relates to improved seal construction for the rotary vane element of valves of the type which have a vane rotor mounted between valve ports to control the flow of fluid therebetween without leakage and is an improvement over my copending application Ser. No. 312,724 filed October 2, 1952 now Pat. No. 2,703,586 issued March 8, 1955.

As particularly described inmy parent application, the invention relates to sealed rotor construction for vane rotor control valves wherein a resilient self-adjusting seal is mounted about a rotary vane to effectively seal the same radially against the valve body walls.

In my parent application a resilient seal was placed at opposite sides of the rotary vane, and the body of the vane was centrally fixed in its pivotal mounting for fixed rotation about its axis. According to the present construction the vane is mounted with sliding clearance to slide radially within retaining arms of its pivots, whereby resilient sealing means are necessary at only one side of the vane type rotor and improved sealing construction is provided with respect to sealing effectiveness against the valve body wall at both sides using only one seal; and greater economy in construction and use of the rotary vane is available in that that construction is-simpler and the vane mounting is self-adjustable progressively with wear.

The sealing means hereof may be used uponvane type rotors mounted within a valve body having any number of valve ports for purposes of sealing the rotor sides against fluid leakage between valve ports. For rotary type valves controlling gas flow between ports, the rotor is a relatively thin vane mounted diametrically as a planar wall extending diametrically from side to side through the axis of a generally cylindrical chamber. Such rotatable vane is desirably sealed radially at each opposite side against the cylindrical walls of the valve chamber with which the valve ports communicate. As pointed out in my parent application, it is sometimes also desirable to seal such vane axially against the closed ends of the cylindrical chamber and such axial sealing as shown in my parent application may also be provided herein as desired. The present construction, however, deals primarily with the radial seals against the cylindrical valve chamber wall applied to such vane.

A typical valve construction using such vane is a four way valve, such as the common reversing valve, wherein four valve ports are interconnected in pairs by proper positioning of the vane. The present sealing construction is outstanding for use in such valve.

As an outstanding feature of the present construction, the vane itself is mounted diametrically from side to side of the cylindrical chamber in which it rotates, slidable diametrically in its pivot arms to allow radial movement with respect to its rotary axis for continuous self-adjustment as wear upon the edges of the vane progresses. Only one resilient seal is necessarily provided thereby on only one edge of said vane. The vane thus supported, having its sealing means resiliently thrust against a cylindrical 2,817,360 Fatented Dec. 24, 1957 valve chamber wall, by reaction thrusts the entire vane body slidably against the valve wall at a diametrically opposite point, whereby sealing pressure is evenly maintained at bothopposite planar sides of the vane; but a resiliently mounted and replaceable seal becomes neces' sary at only one side thereof. It is accordingly a primary object to provide a simplified andimproved seal construction for a vane type rotor of a multiway rotary vane type valve. Other objects will be inherent in the description taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:

Fig. 1 shows the valve assembly in section perpendicular to the axis of the valve through the approximate center thereof;

Fig. 2 illustrates an assembly detail of the rotor with the radial seal thereon andits position within a pivotal mounting for rotation thereof 'with parts in section to illustrate seal construction;

Fig. 3 is an end view of thevane of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a detail illustrating the pivotal mounting of the vane.

As illustrated, the valve comprises a body 10 having. four valve port openings 11, 12, 13 and 14 radially disposed thereabout as in typical four way valve construction shown in somewhat greater detail in my parent application whose description is incorporated hereinby reference and made a part hereof. The valve body 10 has a cylindrical rotor chamber 15 centrally bored through the valve, of which Fig. l isa section perpendicular to the axis thereof.

The valve body 10 has end walls 10a each bored concentric with the axis of the valve chamber 15, each end wall to receive a rotary pivotal support 16 one of which is shown in detail in Fig. 4. This support is cylindrical in outer contour as shown in Figs. 2 and 3 and is journaled in an end wall of the valve 10a, Fig. 2 for rotation by any conventional rotating means. The rotary vane supports 16 have a shank portion 162 which extends out of the end wall of the valve end to which any conventional valve rotor rotating means such as a wheel or lever may be attached for rotation of the support and vane; the detailed extension of that shank from the end wall being the same as shown in my parent application. As shown in Fig. 4, the rotary vane supportis diametrically cut at its inner end 16 through its center from side to side to convert the same to a forked construction, the prongs of which 17 and 18 are sufficiently widely separated to receive in sliding fit therebetween the rotor vane 19.

The rotor vane 19 is a rectangular plate, as shown in Fig. 2, having a length usually corresponding to the axial length of the valve chamber to seal the same from end to end, but at least substantially beyond the axial position of each valve port. In some constructions it may be desirable to seal the entire cylindrical valve chamber, both sides and ends, as described in my parent application, and accordingly the ends may be sealed by the construction of my parent application. The width of the vane 19, as shown, is less than the diameter of the cylindrical valve chamber. One side edge 20 of the vane 19 is slightly rounded to bear against a cylindrical valve chamber wall 15a for sealing rotation thereagainst.

The opposite side edge 21 of said vane 19 has a deep groove 22 cut therein parallel to the vane axis from end to end. The bottom of the groove 22 has several vertical borings 23a, 23b and 230 into the plane of the vane centrally thereof inward from the bottom of said groove 22, preferably equidistantly spaced along the length of said groove. Several sealing springs 25 are mounted each Within one of the borings 23 to extend resiliently up- Ward into the space of the groove 22, each from within one of said borings 23.

A T-shaped sealing member 2=l tion 26 rounded at its outer edges,

comprising a cap porsimilar to the opposite vane edge 20, and cooperative therewith for sliding sealing movement against the cylindrical valve chamber wall a, and having its outer cap portion 26 of a width corresponding to that of the rotor vane 19, has symmetrically centrally extending therefrom a narrow sliding plate support portion 27 of a thickness substantially corresponding to the groove 22 for mounting therein in sliding fit. The sealing member 24 accordingly has its narrow sliding plate mounted in the side of the rotary vane to slide in the groove 22 thereof and is resiliently pressed outwardly therefrom by the springs 23 against the cylindrical valve chamber wall 15a for seal thereof during rotation of the vane 19. That spring pressure against the sealing member 24 in contact with the wall 15a reactively presses the body of the rotary vane 19 simultaneously against its opposite edge in sealing contact with the valve chamber wall 15a at a diametrically opposite portion. Thus the rotary vane 19 is sealed at both opposite sides of the cylindrical valve chamber resiliently.

As the vane 19 is slidingly supported within the forked rotor support 16 for rotation thereof, as wear occurs, regularly or irregularly at opposite sides thereof in contact with the chamber wall 15a, the vane is equalized in pressure by springs 25 thereagainst to. accommodate the resiliently sliding side seal. As wear progresses the vane may slide within its forked rotor support diametrically toward either side.

While the vane 19 as shown is usually rectangular, the same seal construction is useful where the vane is shaped to taper somewhat from one end of the valve chamber to the other to accommodate a valve chamber which is correspondingly tapered to frusto-conical shape.

As thus described a substantially improved seal is provided for both diametrically opposite sides of a rotary vane type valve which is highly economical in construction to effectively seal the vane. The single sealing element which may be of metal or plastic may become worn in use and is readily replaceable but the wear takes place not only upon the seal but upon the opposite end of the vane.

time to time as needed.

I claim:

1. A valve comprising a valve body having an annular chamber, a plurality of valve ports in said body communicating with said chamber, a vane type rotor element mounted radially slidable for rotation in said chamber with its edges extending diametrically towards opposite annular sides thereof as a partitioning element controlling the flow of fluid between valve ports, said vane rotor having a groove in one edge thereof parallel to the annular wall of said chamber, a sealing member having a thin body portion corresponding substantially to the length and width of said groove slidably mounted therein and means for resiliently biasing said vane and However, while the vane body may progres sively wear, the seal itself is simply replaceable from sealing member each against a diametrically opposite portion of said annular wall.

2. Valve structure as defined in claim 1 wherein the sealing member is substantially T-shaped in section, the cap portion of which is substantially the same width as said vane, and the stem portion corresponds in sliding fit to said groove.

3. Valve structure as defined in claim 1 wherein the vane is supported for rotation between a pair of forked rotor elements at opposite ends of said vane with sliding clearance between prongs of said forks, whereby said vane is self-adjustable radially under resilient sealing pressure between opposite radial portions of said annular wall.

4. A valve comprising a valve body having an annular wall enclosing a substantially cylindrical chamber, a plurality of valve ports in said body communicating with said chamber, a pair of vane support and rotation elements mounted about the axis of said cylindrical chamher at opposite ends thereof for rotation, a vane slidably mounted for rotation and self-adjustment diametrically from side to side of said cylindrical chamber in said vane support elements for rotation thereby, said vane having a groove cut in one edge thereof from end to end, a sealing member slidably mounted within said groove and means between said vane and sealing member resiliently biasing said sealing member and vane each against opposite diametric portions of the cylindrical chamber wall for sealing engagement therewith.

5. A valve comprising a valve body having an annular chamber, a plurality of valve ports in said body communicating with said chamber, a vane type rotor element in said chamber extending diametrically from side to side for contact with the annular walls of said chamber, means for rotating said vane, said rotating means supporting said vane in sliding fit for radial movement for adjustable seal of the edges of said vane against the annular sides as a fluid-tight partitioning element controlling the flow of fluid between valve ports, a sealing member carried by said vane parallel to and between one edge of said vane and the annular wall of said chamber, resilient biasing means between said sealing member and said vane biasing the sealing member against said annular wall in sealing contact therewith and reactively against said vane to seal the opposite edge against an opposite portion of said annular wall.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,081,322 Murphy Dec. 16, 1913 2,552,117 Roswell May 8, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 738,988 France of 1932 863,770 France of 1941 

